USC president cites gains, future headwinds in State of the University address at Health Sciences Campus

In her last State of the University address as USC president, Carol Folt on Thursday highlighted many prominent advancements the university made under her tenure over the past six years. It was Folt’s second State of the University address this week, this one addressed to health sciences faculty, staff and students at the Aresty Auditorium on the USC Health Sciences Campus. Folt will retire as USC president at the end of June.

In her speech, Folt spoke of the significant gains USC has made in advancing its research, public service and other offerings, with a particular nod to the university’s health enterprise, including its health sciences schools and Keck Medicine of USC, which together account for more than half of the university’s budget, she said.

Folt also acknowledged that changing federal policies could create more uncertainty moving forward but said this should not deter USC from remaining true to its mission of enriching minds and spirits through excellence in teaching, research, creation, professional practice and public service.

“There are things to celebrate, there are things to be concerned about and the path goes forward,” Folt said. “Our mission is evergreen. We do great work for the country, for our communities and for the world.”

She noted that the university’s mission is “probably more important than ever before.” She added: “I don’t see anything about our mission that should give us anything but commitment and pride going forward.”

Research milestone

Folt provided updates on USC’s investment in research, including in health care, biomedical research and computational science. She noted 44% growth in research spending since 2019, amounting to $1.26 billion in 2024. “Our research is not just good; it’s historic high,” she said.

“Proposals are up, requests are up, our patents are up, our license receipts are up,” she added. For 2025, the university had envisioned double-digit growth in research spending. It remains to be seen how federal changes could affect this, but Folt said that “we’re telling everybody to continue to submit proposals. The portals are still open.” She added that while some other areas of research could be at risk of federal budget cuts, she believes that commitment to biomedical research and technology will endure.

USC remains a leader in national research, with funding granted to USC principal investigators exceeding that of many other competing universities, she reported. “It just speaks to the incredible brilliance and talent of our researchers at USC,” Folt said.

She also highlighted the USC/CHLA Cell Therapy Program joint venture with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Its cGMP facility became operational in 2023 to study new cell therapies for macular degeneration, epilepsy, heart failure, cancer, Parkinson’s disease and gliomas.

Finally, Folt mentioned some notable start-up initiatives stemming from USC’s research, including a liquid biopsy to detect ovarian cancer (CpG Diagnostics), a drug to regenerate cartilage in aging and arthritis (CarthroniX) and a stem cell treatment for neurodegenerative diseases (AcuraStem).

Health system investment

Folt emphasized investments USC made in its health system during her tenure, including the addition of USC Arcadia Hospital to the Keck Medicine of USC health system in July 2022 and Keck Medicine’s soon-to-open, newest location in Pasadena.

These additions “will allow us to both expand our research and expand our clinical footprint and our clinical access,” she stated.

She also highlighted the USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences endowment of $50 million and the Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering endowment of $35 million. Furthermore, she congratulated USC Mann’s dean, Vassilios Papadopoulos, for winning the 2025 Outstanding Dean Award from the American Pharmacists Association.

On the health care front, Folt stated, “We’ve been working on doubling our research expenditures. A big part of that success is people here. We want to be a top 20 medical school, and we want to be a $5 billion health system in order to really be able to meet the goals we’re trying to do.”

Dedication to excellence across fields

Folt also lauded USC’s leadership in athletics, arts, public service and more.

USC’s recent move to the Big Ten Conference creates new opportunities for the university’s student-athletes, she pointed out. “We are in the big tent,” Folt said. She also pointed to the achievements of women athletes in soccer, basketball and beach volleyball.

She also congratulated USC alumni Walter Salles, Alex Coco and Doug Hemphill for their wins at Sunday’s Academy Awards. On the arts front, Folt highlighted renovations serving the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

Staying true to goals and values

Another theme of Folt’s address was that amid change, the university should stay committed to its cultural mission and goals.

At the start of her speech, Folt recapped key recent milestones, including the creation of a rock garden on the USC University Park Campus honoring the university’s Nisei students, the Trojans of Japanese American heritage who were forced to leave USC during World War II and then denied the opportunity to finish their degrees; the renaming of the Center for International and Public Affairs building to honor late USC alumnus and Native American historian Joseph Medicine Crow; and the naming of the Allyson Felix Field in honor of track star and USC alumna.

Folt also noted the university’s dedication to sustainability, including green medicine, and mentioned the USC Sustainability Hub as a new location for USC community sustainability endeavors moving forward.

Building a national presence

Historically, the university’s ability to navigate “external forces,” including the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently the Southern California wildfires in January, demonstrates how the university can overcome future challenges, including upcoming changes in the federal government, Folt said.

“All these things do drive change, and in most cases I think we’ve been pretty good about taking advantage of those changes or those drivers to make changes that actually help us going forward,” she said.

She also emphasized the need for USC to continue to aim to be “the international standard bearer” in setting a model for progress, innovation and excellence. USC’s national reputation is growing, she said: “You’re going to see a lot of evidence for how we’re much more broadly known across the country and across the world.”

Furthermore, by opening the USC Capital Campus in Washington, D.C., in 2023, USC is also focused on increasing its East Coast presence, expanding the university’s academic and research reach.

This location also serves as a base for USC’s outreach to health policy makers. “We’ve had almost 200 big events and conferences there, and a lot of that is health policy, where you want to be in the center,” Folt observed.

Staying visible and involved will also be critical to navigating upcoming change, she said. “The truth is we’re facing new shocks, so we’re going to have to work very carefully with great prudence and make sure that we’re always mission-central,” Folt said.

Later, she added: “You do your best, but you follow the law … trying to do this in a right way that doesn’t jeopardize everything we have but also keeps us going forward and gives a voice that people can appreciate and understand. We are educators.”

She concluded: “Our mission is strong. Our success for USC is being not only big — because when it happens here, it happens to a lot of us, having new ideas, being fast — but we only succeed when we do it together.”